Postdoctoral Fellows at Harvard University
 

Benefits & Support / Tax Information

Harvard University Tax Services Contact Info
Holyoke Center, Room 490, Cambridge
617-495-3600
Contact Barbara Hunt, Director of Taxation barbara_hunt@harvard.edu

Taxes and Postdoc Classification

To find out what kind of funding you receive (employee or stipendee postdoc status), contact your principal investigator or department administrator. (To learn about your postdoc status, see the Benefits section of this website.) Then find out which taxes will be withheld from your check in the “Check Withholdings” section below.

If the type of funding you receive changes, there is a possibility that your administrative classification as an “employee,” “stipendee,” or “direct pay” postdoc may change also. A concomitant change in tax status might occur in moving to fellowship funding from grant funding. Pretax contributions to flexible spending accounts and time-deferred annuities are not possible for fellows that have no taxes removed from their checks by the University (“stipendees”). Fellows moving into a “direct pay” classification would experience a change in health plan options and should inquire about this.

Institutional Allowances and Taxes

You should also be aware that institutional allowances from fellowships are fully taxable for Massachusetts and Federal taxes to the postdoc as are any department subsidies to that allowance. See the Internal Revenue Site. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html

Check Withholdings

Salaried Employee Postdoc:

  • Federal tax, Massachusetts tax, FICA, and Medicare withheld
  • Receives a W2 form from the University

Stipendee Postdoc:

  • No withholding of taxes, FICA, or Medicare
  • Must file quarterly estimated state and Federal taxes on April 15th, June 15th, September 15th, and January 15th on form 1040ES(NR) for Federal tax and Form 1-ES for the state tax

Note: Tax treaty agreements with the U.S. will dictate liabilities for foreign postdocs.

Tax Forms

  FEDERAL FORMS STATE FORMS
Call Toll Free
To Order Tax Forms By Phone 		1-800-TAX-FORM

TDD 1-800-829-4059

Internal Revenue Service
Monday-Friday
7am-5:30pm 		1-800-392-6089

TDD 617- 887-6140

MA. Dept. of Revenue
Monday-Friday
8:45AM-5:00PM
Pick Up Tax Forms JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury St.
Boston, MA  02203
Monday-Friday –
8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
617 316-2850 		MA. Dept. of Revenue
Customer Service Bureau
200 Arlington Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
617-887-6367
1-800-392-6089


 Boston Headquarters
100 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-626-2201
Forms By Fax 1-703-368-9694


 617-887-1900
Online Forms http://www.irs.ustreas.gov
 http://www.dor.state.ma.us
Customer Service 1-800-829-1040


 617-887-6367
Refund and Recorded Information 1-800-829-4477 Inquire online at
http://www.dor.state.ma.us

Foreign Postdocs
Please consult the University's tax office to determine your tax status. Information for resident aliens is available on the university tax services website.

For more information, also see the International Postdocs Taxes section on this website.